NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN UPDATE

The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group has been reviewing comments received during the Regulation 14 Consultation (conducted over a six-week period from 8 Oct to 20 Nov 2017) and with Colin Smith Planning has been determining what amendments may be needed to the Draft Neighbourhood Plan. This includes comments from statutory consultees such as Chichester District Council, The South Downs National Park Authority, Historic England, Natural England, The Environment Agency and Southern Water, whose comments are available for viewing on this website (Supporting Evidence – Regulation 14 Representations). Comments received from members of the public will also be uploaded for viewing in the near future.

Healthcheck of ‘The Plan’

Concurrently, the Parish Council (the qualifying body for the Plaistow & Ifold Parish – Neighbourhood Plan) has applied to Locality (a programme partner of the Department forCommunities and Local Government – DCLG) for further technical support of a pre-submission Plan Healthcheck, which is for those groups who are near the end of the Neighbourhood Planning process and who have a completed draft plan. A Healthcheck will look at whether the draft Plaistow & Ifold Parish – Neighbourhood Plan meets the ‘Basic Conditions’ and give valuable insights into whether ‘The Plan’ would be likely to proceed to the referendum stage. Only a draft Neighbourhood Plan or Order that meets each of a set of ‘Basic Conditions’ can be put to a referendum and be made (adopted) by the Local Planning Authority (Chichester District Council). The ‘Basic Conditions’ are set out in paragraph 8(2) of Schedule 4B to the Town and CountryPlanning Act 1990 as applied to neighbourhood plans by section 38A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

How will a Healthcheck help?

A lot of time and effort has gone into preparing ‘The Plan’, which ultimately will be scrutinised by an Independent Examiner after submission to Chichester District Council. The independent examiner will determine whether the plan meets the ‘Basic Conditions’ and other relevant legislative and regulatory requirements (e.g. consultation) and judge whether The Plan can proceed to referendum or not.

A Healthcheck prior to submission to CDC may identify areas in ‘The Plan’ which need changes. This will not involve re-writing of the policies but general advice on what modifications may be needed. This process has been developed to help Neighbourhood Planning bodies (and Town / District Councils) approach future independent examination of The Plan with greater confidence. The Healthcheck involves that an examiner be appointed from the NPIERS panel (a Neighbourhood Planning Independent Examiners Referral Service). A number of industry bodies comprise the NPIERS panel which provides access to expert, impartial examiners when needed and is designed to support communities through this process, with support from DCLG:

Plaistow & Ifold Parish has funding and technical support from My Community and Locality who deliver programmes of grants on behalf of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in collaboration with their partners. www.locality.org.uk www.mycommunity.org.uk www.groundwork.org.uk